During this century the demand for petroleum as a source of energy and as a primary raw material for the petrochemical industry has resulted in an increase in world production from 29 to over 2,400 million metric tons per year. This dramatic increase in the production, refining and distribution of crude oil has also brought with it an ever-increasing problem of environmental pollution, which has been a consequence of the massive movements of petroleum by oil tankers from the areas of high production to those of high consumption. It has been estimated that 0.5% (12 million metric tons per year) of transported crude oil finds its way into sea water, largely through accidental spills and deliberate discharge of ballast and wash waters from oil tankers.
The toxicity of crude and refined oil to marine ecology and even more directly to man is well documented [D. F. Boefsch et al., "Oil Spills and the Marine Environment", Ballinger Publ., Cambridge, 1974, 114 pp.; A. Nelson-Smith in the collected papers edited by P. Hepple, "Water Pollution by Oil", Elsevier, New York, 1971, pp. 273-80] and need not be discussed in detail. Suffice it to state that crude oil contains mutagenic, carcinogenic and growth-inhibiting chemicals and that even small quantities (5-100 mcg per liter) of certain petroleum fractions destroy microalgae and juvenile forms of microorganisms. Furthermore, it has recently been reported [I. Chett et al., Nature, 261, 308-9 (1976)] that petroleum inhibits microbial decomposition of organic matter in sea water by interfering with chemotaxis. To put it simply, oil pollution in the ocean in general and in the coastal waters in particular presents a serious problem to commercial fisheries, recreational resources, and public health.